Improvement in breech-loading ordnance



J. LEE.

Breech Loading Ordnance.

NO. 38,638. Patented May 19, 1863.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Orricn.

JOHN LEE, OF BOLIVAR, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH=LOADING ORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,638., dated May 19, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN LEE, of Bolivar, in Tuscarawas county,'in the State of Ohio,

have invented a new and useful Breech-Loading the ball let down until in a line with the bore of the gun. Fig. 4 is a vertical section, showing the ball driven into the barrel. Fig. 5 shows the wedge-shaped breech-piu;

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its con struction and operation.

Imake my cannon in any of the usual modes, of iron, brass, or other material, and of sufficient strength at the breech to allow the reception of the breech-pin A. This breechpin A is of a wedge shape, as clearly shown in the drawings, so that when thrown up ward it shall be wedged close up against the barrel of the gun, so as to prevent leakage of gas. That face of the wedge which comes in contact with the barrel should be vertical and at right angles with the bore. It should also be faced with gun metal or copper, if the gun be made of iron, so as to lessen the wear from the corrosion occasioned by the gas. The breech-pin is a wedge in only one direction, and its sides which are parallel with each other are parallel with the bore of the gun. It is provided with shoulders a a,which rest upon flanges Z) I), as shown in Fig. 4, so as to prevent the breech-pin from falling down out of the mortise in which it works. It is also provided with slots 0 c, in which pins (2 d of the flanges b I) work, (with a little 'play,) so as to guide the breechpin vertically. In the rear edge of this breechpin is made a groove, 6, and 011 the bottom of the groove and parallel with the vertical face ofthe pin I cut a rack, B. By cutting the rack in this manner, instead of upon the rear surface of the pin, I am enabled to move the pin vertically, and to have the smooth rear surface of the pin in perfect cont-act with the breech of the gun.

O is the rammer, of cylindrical (or other) form, and is provided on its under surface with-a rack, G. This rammer works in the breech of the gun, in a hole bored for its reception in a line with the bore of the gun.

D is a segment-pinion on axle E, and working in a mortise cut for its reception in the breech of the gun. This pinion moves the racked breech-pin A up and down and the rammer 0 forward and backward. It is so constructed that when the rammer is removed from the gun entirely, and the breech pin is let down, asponge can be drawn entirely through the cannon over the pinion.

. F is the operating-lever.

In using cannon of large caliber I may find it necessary, in order to more perfectly avoid leakage of gas,to use a metallic cartridgeease, as shown by red lines in Fig. 3.

The red lines in Fig. 4 represent a gun-metal facing applied to the barrel of the gun at the place where the explosion takes place. The object of this device is to make an iron gun as capable of resisting the corroding effects of gunpowder as agun composed of gunmetal. This device is applicable to either breech or muzzle loading cannon.

In operating my invention the cartridge is placed upon the grooved upper surface of the breech-pin A, as shown in Fig. 1. The crank F is then turned, so as to makethe pinion D catch in the rack B of the pin, and carry it downward until the cartridge is in line with the bore of the gun, as seen in Fig. 3. Turning the pinion in the same direction, it escapes the rack B and catches into the rack O of the rammer O, which is thus driven forward against the cartridge until it is forced into the barrel, as seen in Fig. 4.. The motion of the crank is then reversed, so that the segment-pinion carries the rammer back, and then the breech-pin up, as seen in Fig. 1,1eaving the cartridge in the barrel up against the breech-pin and ready to be fired.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The breech-pin A, constructed and operating substantially as described, in combina tion. with segment-pinion D and rack-rammer G, for the purposes set forth.

JOHN LEE. IVitnesses:

. Jo. O. CLAYTON,

EDM. F. Brown. 

